OK, I just found a stick that I made ages ago, and it is bootable - but could you look at these contents and tell me if you think it is suitable please? Is it ok that it contains ldlinux.sys? (Just checked with Gparted that it's a FAT32 partition - so that part should be ok)

Hi greengeek,

Looks eminently suitable. Ldlinux is the hidden, vital bootloader. You do not seem to have a savefile (or have deleted it) but it matters not. You are now only 2 steps away from possessing a dual boot stick _________________Regards ETP

LABEL off
MENU LABEL Power Off
KERNEL /boot/grub/grub.exe --config-file="halt"

The first time I booted I did not have the first line commented out (as it is shown here), but it failed to display your menu - just booting into the existing Linux set up on the stick. Now that I have commented out the first line it just says that it can not find the Linux Kernel. Can you spot any clues to what I am doing wrong please?
(just off to bed now... I hope to continue in the morning. Thanks for the help...)

Mmmmmm…. Pretty much everything. Please see my post dated 24/08/12 in reply to OscarTalks. Follow the steps there exactly including using the 2 files attached to it. (vesamenu.c32 and syslinux.cfg for Slacko 5.3.3)
Your stick should finish up with 2 directories:
p533
boot (plus contents-see first post)
In the root you should have:
syslinux.cfg
vesamenu.c32
bart9splash.jpg
ldlinux.sys (hidden file)

You will then need to change the following line in syslinux.cfg to match your set up:

Please see my post dated 24/08/12 in reply to OscarTalks. Follow the steps there exactly including using the 2 files attached to it. (vesamenu.c32 and syslinux.cfg for Slacko 5.3.3)

Sorry, I misinterpreted that post. I thought the syslinux.zip contained the actual syslinux files (which I had downloaded direct from kernel.org). Didn't initially realise it was your sample syslinux.cfg file.

I don't have the puppy files in a separate subdirectory - they are still in root. I will have to play with this a little to get closer to your original setup.

Quote:

For some reason I don’t understand your pupsfs has 5.3.3t.sfs on the end.

The stick was loaded with "Slacko Thin" which has the "t" added onto it. I find it a really good version for testing with.

I believe I am doing things correctly now, but the stick hangs during boot, just showing "syslinux 3.73 xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxetc etc" and nothing else happens. (If I eliminate all the new code in syslinux.cfg and go back to my original one-line config of

Code:

default vmlinuz initrd=initrd.gz pmedia=usbflash

the Slacko Thin still boots so the boot hang seems to be to do with the config of the syslinux.cfg. I will have a careful read of all of this again and may start with a fresh usb stick.

I think I had one too many glasses of wine last night when I got all excited about making this work
I will come back to this and have another go with a fresh mind.

That’s fine. Please note that the stick needs to have been made bootable with syslinux 4.04 as stated in my original post. Vesamenu.c32 must also be from that version (as supplied) It will not work with 3.73._________________Regards ETP

Hi ETP
Thanks for suggestion of holding shift key on powerup to revert to hard drive os startup (instead of from cd). I tried twice without success so I'm thinking even if i can figure out the timing, my wife can't/ wont. I'm still hoping that there's a way to add a choice to revert to hard drive startup. I guess this has to happen before puppy gets installed so maybe what i'm asking is in a file that needs compilation or otherwise involving steps way beyond my noobish capabilities!? There are several boot and message files that are editable but the rest aren't. Hmm.

Hi ETP
Thanks for suggestion of holding shift key on powerup to revert to hard drive os startup (instead of from cd). I tried twice without success so I'm thinking even if i can figure out the timing, my wife can't/ wont. I'm still hoping that there's a way to add a choice to revert to hard drive startup. I guess this has to happen before puppy gets installed so maybe what i'm asking is in a file that needs compilation or otherwise involving steps way beyond my noobish capabilities!? There are several boot and message files that are editable but the rest aren't. Hmm.
tia

Hi canbyte,

Sorry that did not work for you - it was worth a try.

Any choice of OS needs to be offered by the bootloader menu. Once you see the choice between save-files it is too late
as the puppy linux kernel will already have loaded.

We each need to find a (dual) boot method that we are comfortable with. Also there is the question of what level of risk we can each tolerate if
things go wrong. Finally there is the matter of complexity. Simple but robust is better.

May I suggest that you study linuxcbon's thread which also mentions two other methods.

STEP 0: Your motherboard (BIOS) has to support boot from usb (usb-key or usb-hdd).
You don't need to know which of these types your media is though, your BIOS recognizes
the usb controller in the device, and this determines usb-key or usb-hdd type.
STEP 1: Download the latest copy of syslinux and extract it. Download.
STEP 2: Open a command prompt and cd to your 'syslinux\win32' folder. Run syslinux.exe -m -a X:
replacing X with the drive letter of your media. This will install suitable MBR code into your flash drive and mark the partition on it as active._________________Regards ETP

Hi ETP
Thanks for looking into that. Now i feel that i've highjacked your thread not hitchhiked on it as you have put up so much info that it should be flagged / titled as a dual boot from USB / CD for whoever else might be interested. sorry bout that.

Your last sentence stopped me in my tracks. I'm even worse grubbing at windoz than with Puppy - all worry and no fun! But what you said made me wonder if there might be a solution - to intercept the process at the first or second messages that appear. First is boot.msg which calls up the slacko screen and says

Quote:

Just wait 5 seconds for normal startup!07
For basic help press the <F2> key, for advanced help press <F3> key.

Could a choice be added - 'hit F0 to abort Puppy and revert to hard drive'? with a little code to do the deed? Or is this message called up by the kernel? In which case could the cd be remastered to include a separate file to be called first with a new 5 second choice?

Don’t worry about jacking the thread. It was hardly active. From your reply I see that you have grasped the issue and it is evident that you prefer low risk.

Your current method of working with 533 (boot from CD with multiple save-files on USB) is very safe, versatile and sensible.

When one burns a Puppy ISO to CD/DVD, isolinux (a fork of syslinux) is used to boot the disc, isolinux.cfg being the configuration file. A very simple cfg is used in Puppy.
Yes, it would be possible to add a boot option to that file but doing so is fraught with pitfalls in that what would and would not work would be very hardware dependant. It would also have to cater for all O/Ss (Win 98/Win2000/XP/Win7 etc). In addition some O/S may not be on the first hard disc and some not even on the first partition of a particular disc.

The script that generates the cfg is a matter for BK, who wisely in my view, has kept it simple. It would not be good if at best an option only worked on some hardware and at worst locked a box up with possible corruption of the file system.

Having said that there is nothing to prevent an individual, using an ISO editor, from
changing the cfg and re-mastering it. We are back to risk.

Given what you have told me you may like to give the method described in this thread a try using another stick. Once formatted (if need be) and made bootable with syslinux as I have now described, it is simply a matter of creating the directories and copying your files over. You can keep your existing stick as it is. If you copy over multiple save files you will get your usual choice.

Reproduced below is a directory/file shot of such a stick for any readers benefit.
N/B
The hidden file in the root ldlinux.sys does not show up in this view.
Ps the kernel is the file vmlinuz.

ETP, Thanks for your patience in letting me continue chewing on this bone. I'll recheck later but I don't think my PC is bootable from USB. It occurred to me that what we are dealing with is the bios, which I suppose is what instructed the pc to boot from cd or usb. Is it possible to reverse the bios instruction without having to think about what OS is on the HD? Or can the bios be told that 'sorry but there is no boot os here so you'll have to try the HD or whatever is next on the list'? The same as if there were no puppy cd in the drive. Or are my ruminations on the wrong track?_________________1. Dell Dimension E521, AMD Athln 64, 2 GHz 1.93GB ram,
Puppy 533 on CD, accesses flash drive only,
FFox Nightly12.0
2. Compaq P3 733Hz 375RAM
Printer: Oki C3400 > LAN

As you can see I put my slacko install in a subfolder as this is an 8 gig stick so I will likely add other os (pups or whatever) to the stick.

Notice the windows entry, this boots straight into windows 7, only the chain.c32 module is added from syslinux. It's not even necessary really as the 1st HD entry boots straight from BIOS. It sends a failed message apparently and the machine starts from scratch without unplugging the usb, yet ignoring it, and as such on this machine boots straight to grub (legacy).

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